Ecuador - Finca Ecuador S.A.

Sociedad Financiera para la Asistencia Comunitaria Finca S.A. (Finca Ecuador) is part of the worldwide network of Finca International. This network, based in Washington D.C., excels in making credit and savings products accessible for very low-income women micro-entrepreneurs. For this, Finca uses the 'village banking' method, in which women join forces to save together and to take up the responsibility for repaying the received credits. In 1994, Finca Finca Ecuador was restructured into a regulated financial institution and has, in 2005, successfully ended the first full fiscal year as a regulated financial institution with an excellent balance sheet. This could be realised thanks to, among others, an extensive capitalisation which makes a long-term growth possible. Hivos-Triodos Fund also contributes to this growth through a loan.

For more information: www.villagebanking.org